.355 



October 3d, 18J8. 

We have had Bvery Bvenino's full report of 

Senator Bayard's recent address at Baltimore, 

fcetore the Maryland Agricultural Association 

made np in pamphlet form for jjratuitous difi 

tnbution in thia part of the conntir, but ehaU 

be glad to send copies anywhere, on receipt of 

an addreaa and a one cent stamp for postage. 

W. T. CROASDALB, ' 

Editor of Every Evkkino. 



" jlie Jrlie fielatlop of ^gricliltlire to I'olitic?," 



ADDRESS 



Hon. THOMAS FRANCIS BAYARD, 

OF DELAWARE, 

At Pimlico Fair Grounds, near Baltimore, 



BEFORE THE 



Maryland Agricultural Associa'n, 



Thursday, Sept. 26th, 1878. 






' The primal diilios sliine alofi like stars." 



WILMINGTON, PEI,: 

THE EVERY EVENING PUBLISHING COMPANY, 

PHMiskfrs of "Every Evening" and "The DeUtivnrt Tribune." 

1878. 



The Tine Relatiois of Agrkultwre to Politics. 



At the Pimlico Fair Grounds, near Baltimore, on Thursday September 26th, 
1878, Senator Bayard, of Delaware, by invitation, delivered the following address 
before the Maryland Agricultural Association. Mr. Bayard spoke as follows: — 



Ladies and Oentlemen: There is an old 
French saying that "He -who excuses 
himself accuses himself," and the same 
idea finds expression in o:.r English 
adage, "A man who is good at excuses is 
good at nothing else" — and yet I cannot 
forbear to lay before you, in the way of 
apology for the shortcooiings of this ad- 
dress, the wearying heats of our American 
summer and the professional aud other 
engagements which have turned what 
should have been a vacation and period of 
rest into a really busy season of occupa- 
tion. But my desire to meet and mingle 
with the people of Maryland has caused 
me to put aside other engagements which 
have, nevertheless, stood in the way of 
that preparation to which the themes 
proper for discussion before such an asso- 
ciation as yours, composed of thoughtful 
and inteUigent citizens, are entitled and 
deserve. 

Not having been bred a farmer, 
what I do not know about this important 
pursuit would be far more interesting and 
valuable than what I do; but the pursuit 
and results of agriculture are so important 
to society at large, and so essential to 
civilized government itself, that, although 
reared in a different profession, my 
thoughts have been frequently occupied 
in the consideration of the great and 
growing importance to us all of this chief 
source of production and wealth, and the 
duty which consequently attaches to those 
who devote their time and energies to 
farming to obtain and apply all the aid 
that scientific knowledge can supply, 

MOEE's UTOPIA. 

Sir" Thomas More, the wise, witty and 
upright chancellor who braved the fury of 
a tyrant and obeyed his conscience even 
unto death, met at Antwerp, in 1514, a 
companion of Americus Vespucius, who 
feigned to have discovered an island in the 
Western Atlantic, and the idea was thus 
suggested by the recent discoveries of 
Columbus, of the imaginary commonwealth 
called by More. Utopia, under cover of 
which title he launched the arrows of his 
satire at the rulers of his day, and in 
playful earnest gave many wise hints upon 
government- 



oy, following J 

ted in some J 

I have been I 

was a good 1 

vn Prince a 4, 



Of agriculture he said something that 
may be useful for us to consider : 

In Utopia farm houses are built over tlie whole 
country, to which inhabitants are sent in rotiition 
from the cities. Every family liacl forty men and 
women and two slaves. A master aud a mistress 
presided over each family, and over thirty families 
a magistrate. 

Every year twenty of the family return to town, 
being two years in the country, so that all acquire 
some knowledge of agriculture, and the land i.s 
never left in the hands of persons quite un- 
acquainted with country labors. 

He adds : 

The chief business of the magistrates is to talce 
care that no man may live idle, and that everyone 
should labor in his trade for six hours out of the 24. 

His prophetic eye wouia seem to have 
had in view the "tramps" of our period, 
and to have prescribed a very simple but 
excellent formula for their regulation. 

A EOYAL KOAD TO USEFULNESS. 

The royal family of Germany, following 
a very wise rule, is instructed 
branch of mechanical skill. I 
told the present Emperor was 
chair-maker, and the Crowr 
button-maker, and it would be a good 
thing for us to imitate this very sensible 
system, and improve it by having, in 
every large family, at least one educated 
farmer. 

I know of no branch of study which 
does not with greater or less directness 
lead the mind back to the marvels, the 
mysteries and bounties of our common 
mother earth, from whose bosom we draw 
all that sustains our bodies ; from the 
close and humble observance of whose 
laws we derive our best lessons in science 
and philosophy, and it is looking through 
nature, as displayed in the earth, up to 
nature's God, that we feel most forcibly 
the ties of religion itself. 

THE PKOMINENCE OF LAWYERS IN PUBLIC 
STATIONS. 

Here in America, the theory and system 
of our government being popular, and 
framed upon the distribution of limited 
powers to numerous and independent 
agents, every representative body — the 
houses of Congress, the State Legislatures, 
the county commissioners, the city coun- 
cils — beoprnes a parliament, the very mean- 



3 



ing of which word, "a speaking body," 
will throw some light upon au important 
question often asked, Why are our legis- 
latures, State and Federal, composed so 
largely of members of the legal profes- 
sion ? Why does that profession con- 
tribute so largely in filling the chief offices 
of the Government? 

Independent of the fact that ours was 
intended to be a government of laws, and 
not of the mere will of rulers, and that 
the class of citizens who make laws their 
especial study will naturally bo called 
upon to frame and execute them, and that 
men "learned in the law" must of neces- 
sity, alone, compose the judicial 
branch of the Government, to whom is 
confided the interpretation of laws, 
there can be no doubt that lawyers are 
often chosen as legislators, chiefly because 
they can discuss questions, and thus par- 
liament is held, and the rewards of dis- 
tinction and power are most easily access- 
ible to members of the talking profes- 
sion. 

ONE BAD RESULT. 

A bad result of this is the overcrowding 
of the legal profession and official places by 
the sons of ambitious parents, or by the 
ambitious sons of modest parents, to the 
exclusion of other classes and professions, 
and frequently, as it seems to me, to the 
detriment of the community. 

It has frtqueutly been observed that the 
miuds of lawyers are too much disposed to 
technicality and lack that breadth of view 
which is one of the best qualities in legis- 
lation, which is intended to be the stable 
rule of society, equal in all its applications 
to all men, of every occupation or pursuit, 
of every grade in fortune, and of every 
grade of intellectual faculty. 

In England, from which country our 
institutions of government are chitfly 
copied, it has been often noted that men 
distinguished at the bar had failed to main- 
tain their reputation in the halls of legis- 
lation, and those whose impress as leaders 
has been most indelibly and favorably 
made upon their country's government 
have been men whose minds were freed 
from the mere technical education in a 
single professional pursuit. 

FARMERS AND MECHANICS NEEDED IN THE 
PUBLIC COONCILS. 

Therefore it is that I would rejoice to 
seii a stronger infusion of the intellect of 
leading men in the agricultural and 
mechanical pursuits in those representative 
bodies by whom our laws are moulded, 
and who should therefore be prepared 
and equipped for such duties by a greater 
amount ot general culture and acquirement 
than is usual, and, let me add, should 
enlarge their studies of government and 
laws, and bestow a larger proportion of • 
their time and thoughts to the details and 
practical conduct of political affairs. 



Your association is one of the agencies 
to which we must look for reformation in 
the particulars I have mentioned. There 
are especial opportunities for high useful- 
ness given by the comparative seclusion 
of your lives, which you cannot too highly 
appreciate or value. Undo\ibtedly the 
driving, hurry and bustle of a city hfe 
sharpens men's faculties, and burnishes 
them by constant attrition into a bright- 
ness b' side which the wits of '"Country 
Cousins" may seem dull — but at the same 
time it deprives them\>f those seasons for 
calm self-communion, of introspection 
and judgment, which are so essential for 
public as well as private safety and 
welfare. 

True wisdom is born of serenity and 
repose; judgments formed in times ot 
commotion are not trustworthy. The 
calm bosom of the secluded lake reflects 
most truly the face of the heaven it 
mirrors, and which can never bo pictured 
in the vexed surface of the stormy sea or 
turbulent river. 

In the quiet mind of the secluded 
thinker is usually found that wisdom 
which descends "to guide us in this dark 
estate." 

Country life gives not merely the leisure 
for study, but especially is fitted for medi- 
tation and reflection, needed to coun- 
teract the heated sensationalism and 
feverish thirst for novelty so painfully 
characteristic of the time and country in 
which we live. 

From homes in the country, oftentimes 
obscure and sometimes impoverished, h..ve 
emerged those men who most potently and 
beneficently have influenced the history 
of our country. 

HAMPDEN AND HAMPTON. 

Few figures stand forth upon the can- 
vass of history so eminent and admirable 
as that of John Hampden, the English 
country gentleman, whose monument 
records that, "with great courage and con- 
summate abilities,ho began a noble opposi- 
sition to an arbitrary court in defense of 
the liberties of his country ; supported 
them in Parliament, and died for them in 
the field." 

And his compeer in virtue and ability, 
separated in date by more than two cen- 
turies, but who will ever rank with him in 
history, whoso constancy and sound judg- 
ment, whose intrepidity and self-control 
have proved such a shield and buckler to 
his people, when beset by difficulties and 
dangers greater than even Hampden con- 
fronted, is to-day supplied m our own 
land in Wade Hampton, the planter of 
South Carolina I 

Hampden and Hampton ! The names 
blend in sound, and in future time, 

" Far ou in tiiiiiuiRTS that wu BhuU not si-e," 

they will be coupled in the lessons taught 



to inspire the youth of all lands with 
patriotic endeavour. 

GREAT WOEK WROUGHT IN SECLUSION. 

In a pleasant nook in an English garden 
the mind of the great Newton first 
detected and comprehended the laws of 
the gravitation of matter. 

Away from cities, in an obscure village, 
James Watt, the inaugurator of our present 
wonderful condition of mechanical pro- 
gress, sat watching the lid of the t«a kettle 
as it rose and fell, «ntil he comprehended 
the imprisoned power which proclaimed 
its birth in struggles and demanded and 
irresistibly compelled its release from 
confinement. 

Far away from the busy haunts of men, 
distant from cities and their tumults, wilhin 
the quiet walls of the monasteries, during 
all the violence and wars of the middle 
ages the lamp of learning and science was 
faithfully trimmed and kept burning. 
And art and science and history in that 
long and dark period of unrest lay hid and 
safely preserved and cherished by the 
patient, modest and conscientious labor 
and chrouicle of the poor recluse and 
humble monk. 

Unconsciously, perhaps, a striking and 
most practical illustration of the truth I 
have suggested is given by the means 
adopted in many states of the Union — 
some by constitutional amendment, as in 
Illinois and Pennsylvania, in others by 
statutory amendment of municipal 
charters, to arrest the appalling increase 
of the debts of cities and large towns, 
which have grown with such rapidity as to 
threaten absolute confiscation of the 
property within their jurisdiction. And 
many city governments, so far from being 
a protection to the accumulations of 
industry and an encouragement to enter- 
prise have come to be regarded as 
their greatest danger. 

DEPENDENCE ON BUBAL LEGISLATORS TO RE- 
STRAIN THE ILL GOVERNMENT OF CITIES. 

Under our system of suffrage as con- 
ducted in the cities public expenditures 
Jiave become so excessive, so wild and 
profligate, and so large a class of the pop- 
ulation have come to look upon the public 
treasury as their rightful means of support, 
and the corrupt improvement of private 
property at public cost has become so com- 
mon that the power to incur further 
indebtedness has been withdrawn from the 
local control of city officials and com- 
mitted to the restraining influences of 
state legislatures, which are composed 
chiefly of representatives from the country 
districts. 

Does not this fact constitute a public 
admission that a more reliable sentiment, a 
more "saving oommon-eense" in the care 
and administration of property exists 
among the citizens of tiie rural districts 



than would seem to control their sharper- 
witted brethern massed at the centres of 
population ? 

I barely glance at this serious problem 
of the government of men in large and 
dense masses, not proposing on this occa- 
sion to treat of the obvious evils of our 
municipal systems, or their proper reme- 
dies, but merely to draw your attention to 
the confession, contained in the fact 
referred to, of the manifest reliance exhib- 
ited upon the calmer and slower and, as it 
would appear, more wise and conservative 
judgment of the inhabitants of the rural 
districts. 

THE BROAD PRAIRIE LAND OF PUBLIC 

SENTIMENT. 

Never was there a time in the history 
of our country when calm, independent 
and resolute resistance to wild and dan- 
gerous popular fallacies was so needed as 
now. 

Every thinking man must have felt 
that the absence of legal ranks and classes 
in the United States has created what may 
be likened to a broad prairie land of pub- 
lic sentiment, over which every gale that 
becomes popular sweeps with unob- 
structed force and levels all individual 
opposition. 

This is one of the defects and dangers 
of our democratic form of government, 
against which its friends must guard it, 
and which especially needs the opposition 
of outspoken individuality of opinion, 
and is yet so indisposed to tolerate it. 

A falsehood is not less false because a 
thousand voices shout it; it is only the 
more dangerous and should encounter 
more active and strenuous resistance. 

INDEPENDENT OPINION NEEDED. 

We do need, and need badly, vigorous 
utterances of independent opinions. It is 
from the conflict of honest, out- spoken 
minds that truth is obtained, just as the 
steel and the flint are both required to 
strike the light. 

And to the tyranny of unchecked 
popular opinion is added the terrorism of 
political partisanship, by which American 
intellect and personal conscience are so 
rudely assailed, overcome and dragged in 
the dust of wild and clamorous error. 

Upon the thoughtful minds of men who 
love their country, and whose lives are 
passed remote from busy crowds, I 
earnestly press the consideration of their 
duty and responsibility, to remedy these 
defects. 

FINANCIAL BEWILDERMENT. 

If, in the midst of such financial dis- 
tress and bewilderment as now surround 
us, remedies, illusory and yet plausible, 
should be urged ; schemes which promise 
immediate relief, unbounded, easy and 
seductive, and which have oaught the 



popular mind sufficiently to promise the 
posseRsion of temporary political power to 
their most conspicuous advocates, how 
plain is the duty and responsibility 
of every man who sees the lurking error 
and the concealed danger of such measures 
to bear his testimony in loud warning 
against them ? 

What answer should the farming 
classes, the land owners and the hardy 
yeomen of the United States, give to these 
strange, wild cries we hear going up from 
the political conventions of parties with 
new names, that no more rent should be 
paid for land, no more interest for the 
use of money, that the precious metals 
should be discarded, and "absolute 
money" ordained by law should replace 
and measure all values and be received 
for all dues 'i 

THE DUTY AND INTEREST OF FAEMEK3. 

Who should 80 strenuously resist all 
schemes which tend to lessen public rever- 
ence for pledged faith, to weaken couli- 
dence and to cripple and destroy public 
(and of course private) credit by agreeing 
to plans for the indefinite post- 
ponement of the payment of pub- 
lic engagements according to their 
terms ? What portion of the American 
people need credit so much and so regu- 
larly as the farmer, who has to wait tix 
months between seed-time and harvest for 
his means of payment ? If a man would 
enjoy credit let him denounce all schemes 
to weaken credit and insist upon all that 
will give it strength. To the poor and 
honest man who needs credit and is com- 
pelled to borrow money, I earnestly com- 
mend these words. 

ALL VALUES ABISB OUT OF LABOK. 

What portion of the American people 
know so well as the agricultural classes the 
great fact that all values arise out of labor, 
and that nothing of value can be had with- 
out its share of labor ? 

To whom, therefore, can the fallacy that 
wealth can be created by empty promises 
to create it, be more apparent, and by 
whom should It more scornfully and 
promptly be rejected ? 

Who knows the reality and necessity of 
steady, continuous manual industry better 
than the American farmer ? and who can 
beter attest the falsehood of a system of 
currency which instructs men that pieces 
of paper, upon which is printed a promise 
of payment never to be redeemed, and 
which can be multiplied indefinitely at the 
will of any accidental majority of Con- 
gress, can ever be a stable and reliable 
measure of the value of those crops 
upon the production of which so much 
human toil, anxiety and core have been 
bestowed ? 

The pretended mysteries of the alche- 
mists have long since become the subject 



of human pity and derision, and surely 
the attempt now to revive the greater 
delusion that a printed Government certifi- 
cate of value, not convertible into any 
thing of value, can take absolutely and 
permanently the place of, and perform all 
the functions of actual value, will speedily 
be discarded by the "sober, second- 
thought" of the American people. 

THE LABOB PBOBLEM. 

But little more than twelve months ago 
we witnessed, here in Mai-ylaud and in 
other states, occurrences' growing out of 
conflicting claims of labor and capital, 
in which lawlessness raised its horrid 
front and shocking scenes of insane and 
savage destruction of property and life 
weie enacted well calculated to fill every 
citizen with apprehension and deep 
anxiety. 

So long as public peace and safety are 
in jeopardy there can be for all good citi- 
zens but one immediate, ever-present and 
paramount duty : the maintenance of the 
law; and when law is obeyed, and sits 
firmly and unquestioned in its rightful seat 
of power; then, and only then, 
and not until then, shall the 
bearing and relief of alleged injuries and 
ki justice be patiently, calmly, and kiudiy 
heard, investigated and remedied so far as 
legal justice can suffice. 

But I do not propose to touch upon this, 
the gravest and most important problem 
of modern civilization, which is shaping 
itself and constantly demanding recogni- 
tion in every quarter of the civihzed world, 
not less in empires than republics, and in 
the soluiion of which the remedies and 
course of action which are most deeply 
touched with a sense of common human 
brotherhood and are the most influenced 
by the essential and indelible, but unwrit- 
ten laws of justice and good will between 
man and man, will alone prove productive 
of permanent prosperity to all classes. 

PLACES FOB THE UNEMPLOYED. 

But there are facts which all must recog- 
nize and which are full of present 
instruction. 

Owing to a variety of causes, which I 
will not attempt to recapitulate, there is 
to-day a large body of our fellow country- 
men unemployed and in want, who are 
entitled to the most intelligent considera- 
tion and most active friendship and assist- 
ance. Go into the streets of Baltimore, 
and indeed of every lesser town, and you 
will find them idle but most anxious to be 
honestly employed. 

I read a few mouths since the statement 
of a leading coal land owner and miner in 
one of the Pennsylvania valleys, in which 
he a.ssurtd the unemployed people of his 
district that all the coal miniug now needed 
could be done with one-half the hands 
gathered in that region, and that for the 



other half there was no prospect of 
employment. These meu were to be 
counted by thousands and with their 
families are to be counted by ton thousands. 

When I think of the fair and fertile 
peninsula on which I live and of which 
our dear old ' 'Eastern Shore" forms part, 
I wish from my heart that all of these 
strong and willing hands of labor could be 
transported and permanently established 
on Maryland and Delaware farms. 

When we cast our eyes across 
the ocean, either to the east or 
the west, and see the fearful 
ravages of death in the starvation of mil- 
lions in British India and the Chinese 
Empire, or witness an imbruted condition 
of living humanity with more than the 
pangs and none of the deliverance of 
death itself, we can better form an idea of 
the difficulties of human government 
under conditions of dense population and 
insufficient production and realize the 
blessings of communities, such as our own 
Maryland and Delaware where, under just 
and equal laws, the results of industry are 
protected and personal liberty guaranteed, 
and where a roof to shelter from the 
elements, warm clothing and abundant 
and substantial food are obtainable by any 
man who, with moderate health and 
strength, is content to walk with industry, 
sobriety and simple honesty as his com- 
panions. 

THE RUSH FROM COUNTKY TO CITY. 

Has there not been for more than twelve 
years past a steady exodus of our young 
yeomanry from the country districts to the 
towns and cities ? Is it not a fact that the 
steady labors of the farm and the duller 
occupations and amusements of the home- 
stead have proven irksome and distasteful 
to many of the present generation who 
have sought in the hot bed growth of 
trade and speculation, fostered by paper 
money in our centres of population, a 
more profitable an easier or more exciting 
kind of life ? What has been the result ? 
The cities are filled with the idle victims 
of over trade and exploded speculations. 
Agricultural labor has been abandoned by 
those most fit for it, and ovir farmers have 
been compelled to get along with less com- 
petent hands and pay them higher wages. 
As a result, production has been lessened 
and at the same time the cost of pro- 
duction has been increased. 

One obvious cure for much of the dis- 
tress we now witness in cities and manu- 
facturing centres will be found in the 
return of the population to the cultivation 
of American farms which to-day are at 
prices far below their intrinsic value 
because the compensations and advantages 
of country life and agricultural occupa- 
tions have not been duly weighed and 
appreciated. 



NO^PEAR 01' OVER-PRODUCTICN. 

There need be no fears of over-produc- 
tion of the fruits of the earth by American 
farmers so long, at least, as the mad ambi- 
tions of European rulers turn that conti- 
nent into a vast camp or battle field, and 
peri^ert the energies of their peoples to 
their mutual destruction, and by vast 
military establishments suck the very life- 
blood out of the industries they profess to 
protect. 

"Kuowledge comes, 
But wisdomliugers." 

The progress of invention and the appli- 
cation of natural forces to mechanical uses 
within the last quarter of a century is 
indeed marvellous. Undoubtedly every 
invention whereby labor is released from 
any task leaves it free to seek new fields 
of employment and thereby production is 
proportionately increased, and production 
is wealth, and personal comfort and luxury 
are the followers of wealth. 

Whether the laborer is made more intel- 
ligent, and his condition on the whole 
advanced, is a deeply interesting and 
important question which I will not pause 
now to discuss. 

In considering the benefits of the inven- 
tion of labor-saving machinery to the 
laborer the increased time for cultivation 
of his faculties is obvious, and this shows 
the importance of providing healthful 
mental occupation. 

In proportion as mechanical improve- 
ment makes personal thought and skill in 
the operative less necessary, and so tends 
to deaden his intelligence, the need of food 
for his mind is increased and should be 
supplied. The love and habit of reading 
should be encouraged so that when men 
and women have leisure it will not be for 
mischief, but improvement. It seems to 
me that every agricultural society ought 
to own a library of sensible and entertaining 
books to refresh the weary and attract 
inquiring minds among the laboring class. 

Of the application of steam and elec- 
tricity to agriculture and mechanical 
pursuits each day gives some new illustra- 
tion and amid the wonders developed we 
feel, as La Rochefoucauld said, "only sur- 
prised that we can be surprised." But, 
knowing what we do, these inventions 
open to us a vista of material progress 
into which we may well gaze until imagi- 
nation fails to trammel up the results. 

AGRICULTURAL POSSIBILITIES OF CUB 
COUNTRY. 

By good authority we are told that in 
1859-60 the largest cotton crop in the 
United States, upwards of 5,000,000 bales, 
was produced, and that but 2 per cent, of 
the territory especially adapted to its culti- 
vation was occupied. Knowing the 
peculiar requirements of this plant, in soil 



and climate, and the comparatively 
restricted area, imagination fails to picture 
the capacities of this country under the 
wonderful improvements in mechanics as 
applied to agriculture, of chemistry as 
applied to agriculture, and of the means 
of transporting the products of agriculture, 
not cotton only, but all the other number- 
less crops BO much the legs circumscribed 
as to fitting soil and climate. Surely this 
laud could be the granary and store-house 
of the whole world. 

The skillful cultivation practiced 
for two centuries in Holland, 
if applied to the marshes and neglected 
lands surrounding some of our chief cities, 
would result iu marvellous production. 
Such, for instance, as at Beemster, where 
IS, 000 acres of the most fertile and valua- 
ble land lies IG feet below the level of the 
adjacent sea, and yet was drained in 1612, 
and so ever since maintained; and some of 
the finest meadows are more than 30 feet 
below the water level. 

And yet Holland, like all the rest of 
Europe, is glad to use the labor-saving 
agricultural machinery of the United States. 

Here is the beneficence of free trade in 
thought — each gathering good from the 
other — all benefited by the discovery of 
each. 

THE TTTILIZATION OF WASTE. 

In the utilization of what is now re- 
garded as wastes, the American farmers, 
especially of our own and the more South- 
ern states, have much to learn. 

The " duug hill" of which so many 
speak with such contempt, and of which 
BO few appreciate the value, has proven 
the foundation of solid wealth, well worthy 
of intelligent care. From the Chinese we 
may learn much as to this, and every day 
the ignorant wastes and sanitary dangers 
of the sewerage of our towns and cities are 
forcing themselves upon the consideration 
of thoughtful minds. 

I am not competent — even if this hasty 
address would permit me — to speak of the 
science of agriculture. 

It is only of comparatively late years 
that it has been so treated. In 1802 Sir 
Humphrey Davy first lectured upon agri- 
culture as a science, and since that date the 
applications of chemistry, as applied analy- 
tically to soils, has thrown new light upon 
the pursuit. 

No farmer but should constantly experi- 
ment upon the capacity of his land. It is 
only by such means that its possible value 
can be known. 

OUB COXTNTBV'S GREAT CROPS. 

To-day the "balance of trade," as it is 
called, is effected in favcr of the United 
States chiefly by the cotton crop, yet a 
wheelbarrow could have carried that crop 
less than one hundred years ago. In 1782 
eight bags (not bales) of cotton were seized 



in England on a ship from the United 
States because it was supposed to be im- 
possible that so much of the fibre could 
be produced in this country. The very 
names of calico from Calcutta, and muslin 
from Moussoul, tell us the Oriental origin 
of our household fabrics. 

lUce, of which the production in Caro- 
lina and the other Southern states is so 
extensive and important, is not indigenous 
to our soil, but is alleged to have started 
from a single peck of paddy or rice in the 
husk, given by the captain of a Dutch brig 
to Governor Smith, at Charleston, in 16!)4, 
into which port the vessel had put in dip- 
tress. Its culture was afterwards, in 1718, 
introduced into Louisiana by John Law's 
famous "Company of the West." Today 
ours is the finest rice culture in the world. 

There are now known three hundred 
species of grasses, and may I not ask why 
are not many of these found suitable for 
this region, for profitable cultivation, for 
grazing and live stock improvement ? 

It is so easy to make these experiments, 
so interesting to watch their disclosures, 
and the possibilities of profit are so hope- 
ful, that I cannot but be surprised at the 
neglect I witness almost everywhere. 

By the census of 1870 there were 
11, IT)."). 240 persons, over 20 years of age, 
employed in the United States. Of these 
in agriculture were employed r),ir)l,7<>7, 
and iu manufactures 2, fjOO. 189, giving to 
these combined employments 7,r).')l,().S6. 
Trade and transportation had 1,117,1)28; 
leaving for the professions, and others not 
classed, 2,;58.">.3r»6. The agricultural and 
mechanical employments thus embracing 
nearly two-thirds of our working men — 
and being so Chseutial and controlling a 
portion of our body politic^ — how luanifest 
the importance of education and training 
among them. 

THE SAVING VIRTUES FOB A PEOPLE MOBALLT 
SICK. 

But I wil'i not weary your patience 
longer with the speculations of a mind 
whose practical experience in your call- 
ing is so slight. 

What may be the results of the wonder- 
ful discoveries in physical science we 
may not fully comprehend, but 'I doubt 
not through the ages an increasing pur- 
pose runs." Under all conditions of 
life; under every change and vicissitude of 
human affairs, human nature remains the 
same, and within ourselves rests the 
responsibility of human will left free. 

A saying of Pericles has been preserved: 
"that possesgions (houses and land.s) can 
never produce 7neu, but men can gain of 
such things as many as they will." 

New inventions may render the old 
useless, and the machinery of to-day may 
bo cast into the rubbish pit to-morrow ; 
our institutions of government may fail 
and be replaced by others — history is filled 



with such illustrations. But there are other 
things that will never fail, and can never 
safely be discarded ; are needed now, 
tflways were, and ever will be needed : 

Self-reliance and self-restraint. 

Industry and frugality. 

Courage and patience. 

Truthfulness and honor. 

Morality and religion. 

These are the essential bases which keep 
the world sweet and correct those fermen- 
tations which human passions generate. 

Upon these qualities we must depend 
for all the hope of permanent and pro- 
preseive prosperity and happiness. And 
how shall they be secured ? All are home- 
spun virtues^ — virtues spun at home ; and 
to the guardians of homes we must look 
to see that they are implanted and nour- 
ished there. 

THE DUTY OF WOMEN IN PKESEKVING THE 
riKESIDE VIRTUES. 

Mothers of America, how great a 
power is in your hands I — to mould the 
characters of those who are soon to be 
charged with the government of their 
country ! 

How shallow and petty seem all other 
rights compared with these : the true 
woman's rights, that spring not from 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 



002 744 108 7 

human statutes, but have their warrant 
from a Higher Hand. 

In reflecting upon the evils which to- 
day afflict our country; which have pros- 
trated its prosperity and paralyzed its 
industries and commerce, I trace the want 
of influence of the fireside virtues I hare 
named. Ours is a government of laws, but 
laws moulded by public opinion. In a 
reformed, regenerated public opinion 
must we look for the cure of the evils 
which unclean dishonesty, disregard of 
truth and honor, unscrupulous private 
greed and unpatriotic animosities have 
brought upon us. The family and home 
circle are the natural birth place and nur- 
sery of the principles which, being educa- 
ted and established there, expand into 
the community and pervade the whole 
body of laws and government with their 
sober and sweet influences. 

The care of his family is the just, hap- 
piest and proudest duty of the American 
citizen, and to the American mother is 
assigned the power and duty of moulding 
the character of the American man. No 
written law, no established constitution 
hdA created or assigned these duties but in 
their just performance rest our chief hopes 
for individual and national welfare and 
happiness. 





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